Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, for what reason the Oil and Gas Transition Training Fund is restricted to Scottish residents; and whether he plans to extend that scheme to workers in England.

The Office for Clean Energy Jobs is funding targeted Regional Skills Pilots across the UK which will address skill gaps in a limited number of places which have been identified as priority areas for clean energy, including Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire.

The Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire pilot, the Oil and Gas Transition Training Fund, is being delivered in partnership between UK Government, Scottish Government and Skills Development Scotland. This is a targeted pilot for workers in Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire.

Pilots are also running in Cheshire West and Chester, North and North East Lincolnshire and Pembrokeshire, with local and devolved partners empowered to develop their own plans for how best to target the funding. The Department will publish a Clean Energy Workforce Strategy setting out our approach to creating good jobs across the country.